The UC Marketing Capstone Experience

Cincinnati Recreation Commission

January 21, 2014

I'm working with a Hamilton County development office to create a branding strategy for Price Hill Will (PHW) organisation. PHW works with the local community to chalk out programs for community engagement and also helps local businesses to improve their business. PHW believes that Price Hill neighborhood has the potential to be a charming neighborhood (like in the past). In past it was a booming neighborhood but recently its been plagued with social, crime and other issues. Now my task is to make Price Hill one of the coolest neighborhoods of Cincinnati.

FIRST MEETING: In the first meeting I got a lot of info from my client on the existing situation, what they expect from this project and other details (the usual drill).

WHAT I WAS EXPECTING: I had exchanged a few emails with my client during the holidays and they said they wanted to change the perception of public towards Price Hill. I thought this is a good simple project; we have an organization, they need branding help, I can use Market research stuff to do interviews & survey and finish it off with a 'Big picture'

(a slow ball pitch, one good swing and HOMERUN!! How hard is that, right?)) Walk in the park type project.

WHAT IT ACTUALLY WAS: Well it turned out to be I didnt have to make a branding strategy for the Price Hill Will organization, but for the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD. (it was like a fast ball+curve ball+ changeup pitch. BOOMMM!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!)

So my project is all about studying the neighborhood and create an identity for it, kind of creating a personality. "Neighborhood with personality!" Isn't that COOL? Its like making a movie you can go and watch a 1000 times and never get bored with it.So whats the coolest part of this project?

COOLEST PART: Apart from creating a neighborhood personality, I have to go around Cinny, checkout neighborhoods and study them. So essentially I get to travel a lot. :) Explore Cinny! Over the Rhine, North side, Clifton, Price hill east, Price Hill West, Delhi, etc.(I love this project). I guess by the end of it I can be an official 'Cincinnati tour guide'. lol. I'm seriously thinking of entering city tourism business. (if anyone who is interested in partnerships or want to be a venture capitalist for my idea can contact me).

Damn I love writing about my project but its time to checkout another neighborhood. That's it folks, so stay tune for the next episode of 50 shades of Price Hill. Till then good night and stay warm.

PS: If you guys are bored going to the same restaurant or bar, call me I have plenty of options to share.

January 30, 2012

Today, we will meet with our client to do an ‘Attribute Value Mapping’ exercise with the intention of developing a persuasive communication strategy for his company’s principal product. We are hoping that by showing the client what a real ‘deliverable’ looks like, he will glean that there is really is value to what we are proposing and ‘buy-in’ to our other suggestions. We feel especially confident in the outcome since Drew generously offered to facilitate the session. I think Drew is such an effective speaker because he is able to draw on considerable experience but also because he actively practices what he preaches. As I prepare for our meeting this afternoon among several other tasks, I wonder, does my choice to participate in several projects hinder my ability to succeed at any of them? Will the resulting range of experiences be ultimately beneficial in terms of personal and professional satisfaction? In other words, is there an optimum relationship between breadth and depth of knowledge?

I read a book last year (actually listened to the audio book) by Malcolm Gladwell called ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’. In this book, Gladwell examines commonalities between successful people, revealing several factors, both within and outside of the subject’s control, which ultimately contributed to their professional success. One trait shared by the most successful people e.g. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or The Beatles was the amount of time it took practicing their trade to become truly outstanding: about 10,000 hours. Using a musician as an example, the young violinist who dutifully practices her instrument for 20 hours a week for 10 years (10,000 hours) will likely reach the status of ‘virtuoso’, the student who plays for 10-15 hours each week will likely be a successful musician in an orchestra and the student who practices for 5 hours will likely become a music teacher.

It is an interesting concept, that no individual is so gifted that they can achieved ‘virtuoso’ status, whether the people in question are programmers, musicians, athletes or others, by practicing their talent for less than 10,000 hours. To me, it was also a little bit concerning. I have not worked for 10,000 hours toward anything, I don’t think (unless school counts). If I spent more time on marketing, or research, or writing, or even recreational activities like tennis, guitar or running, would the quality of my output, and resulting satisfaction, be significantly better or is there a trade off between effort exerted and the return? I think about the ’80-20 rule', the theory that the first 80% of the work takes 20% of the time and last 20% takes up the rest. Is it better to spend the time to be ‘100%’ in a single area or ‘80%’ in five?

Over the last few years, I have noticed that I do not feel comfortable if I am not busy or if I feel like there is an opportunity that I am missing out on. As in most things, I think that finding and maintaining a balance is what feels right; I just hope that I am not sabotaging future successes, or settling on widespread mediocrity, by spreading my efforts too broadly.

January 10, 2011

My initial thoughts on the idea of collecting my thoughts as we progress with the Capstone were exciting- it seemed simple- I mean, all I have to do is be present to what I am experiencing and just put it in words- it’s a great way to - as Drew puts it - build the plane while flying it, but I think this blogging thing is turning out to be harder than I thought it would be- I feel I have no thoughts about my thoughts on the capstone! May be it’s because I have not yet met Kathy and Stephanni-our clients. Or maybe because I have never blogged or collected my thoughts like this before or maybe, just maybe because I am facing a ‘writers block’ (woo… now we are talking!- may be that means there is a writer in me…only writers can experience a writer’s block- I think I’ll hold on to that thought for now)

So as I look forward to meeting Kathy and Stephanni from Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC)this week, I am eager to learn what they are seeking from this project and what they expect from me as their student consultant. I mean, what is it that they hope to accomplish with executing this project via The Capstone?

To my mind, for Kathy and Stephanni the capstone is another resource that is intended to bring in value for CRC and is excellently priced too! For me the Capstone is an opportunity to push myself in unfamiliar turf, get The big picture, pick up a few skills that I learn on Friday and start applying on Monday and then blog blog blog my way to glory! (oh wait- wasn’t it about slog slog slog your way? …hmm, the times, they are a changing!) and most importantly- deliver to Kathy and Stephanni what they seek from this capstone.

…and while I prepare myself for meeting my clients I am thinking - so this can be a great way for me to become a ‘project based marketing machine’- yes- a ‘project based marketing machine’- every client need is a project- there are inputs from the client and then we work as a team to process those inputs to produce intended marketing results - and I, as the student consultant, am at the center of it all with a few pieces of the capstone puzzle in my hand and hoping to collect some more this week when we meet.

May 10, 2010

I can’t believe my final presentation is only two weeks away.It seems like not too long ago I was meeting with my client for the first time and trying to decide how to create a timeline of activities for my project charter.In the past fourth months, I have learned a lot about managing my time and my workload, working my client, and coaching my peers.It was great to hear about other projects and the ideas my classmates were able to share with me to improve my project.

May 3, 2010

We are now at a crucial time in our projects. We have conducted primary research by both qualitative and quantitative methods. We have read the book "The Big Picture" and reviewed key topics in class. We have had many meetings with our clients and our peers to figure out the best approach to reaching our goals. Now it is time to pull it all together in our final papers. I feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to summarizing the past 4 months and presenting my final recommendations to my client. What information is the most useful to my client and what should be left out? It is sometimes hard to decide what details to leave in the report and what is unnecessary and actually blurs the message you are trying to communicate.

April 26, 2010

Last week my client sent me an email with 3 additional tasks she wanted me to accomplish in the next few weeks. At first glance I thought some of these tasks were beyond the scope of my project, but once I thought about them more I realized that they did tie into the overall goal of my project and my understanding of the all-city membership card and how the community is responding to this offering.

April 19, 2010

Now that I have scheduled my presentation date for May 26, I realize that I have reached the final stages of my project.I have checked off most items in my project charter, but there is still a lot that needs to be done before I am ready to present my findings to my client.The thought of pulling it all together seems very exciting, yet overwhelming at the same time.

April 12, 2010

Now that I have established that my recommendations will focus on a retention strategy and increasing consumption among CRC’s current users, I have been thinking more about relationship marketing. Relationship marketing is “a philosophy of doing business, a strategic orientation, that focuses on keeping and improving relationships with current customers rather than on acquiring new customers.” The overall goal is to build and maintain relationships with customers that will be profitable for the organization. Not only does an organization need to retain its customers, but it also needs to enhance the relationship it has with its customers. I believe that by offering the all-city membership card, CRC can truly enhance its relationship with many of its loyal customers. Part of my final report will include ways to promote the cards and demonstrate its value. I will also present any additional opportunities to improve the card overall and increase sales.

One of my project challenges is to determine if CRC’s all-city membership card is priced appropriately. Specifically, I would like to determine at what price point do customers consider the card affordable and what price point do they consider it valuable. If a customer decides to buy an all-city membership card, we can assume his or her perceived value of the card is equal to or greater than the price paid ($25). CRC would like to know how much more each of its customers might have been willing to spend on this membership card.

March 28, 2010

In class we have been discussing segmentation, targeting and positioning and how it relates to our clients.We recently reviewed the five-box format for positioning statements (shown below). Although this seems like an easy format to follow, I am struggling with the best approach to use for my client.